


until i met you (love was as elusive as mini black holes)

by tatoeba



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2019-01-23 08:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12503052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatoeba/pseuds/tatoeba
Summary: Baekhyun only has eyes for the hot-as-fuck physics teacher, not the anonymous admirer who leaves him nerdy pick-up lines on a daily basis.





	until i met you (love was as elusive as mini black holes)

**Author's Note:**

> written as a pinch for [baektobaek](https://baektobaek.livejournal.com/)! All my info on NYC is from google, so I apologize for any discrepancies. The pick-up lines came from [here](http://fuckyeahsciencepickuplines.tumblr.com/tagged/physics) and [here](http://www.thedatereport.com/dating/books/35-sexy-literary-pickup-lines-to-snare-you-a-book-lover/).

It’s the third week of the new school year and Baekhyun thinks he’s finally getting the hang of everything. As the new English teacher at the high school, and, well, the _only_ new faculty member to join the school, he’s definitely felt a little like a fish out of water. New hallways to navigate, new people to meet, new students to get to know; it can all be overwhelming, but Baekhyun knows he’s charming and his eye-smile is the cutest so he thinks he’s doing a pretty good job, all things considered.

He hasn’t just started at a new school, but a completely new town and apartment. He hadn’t wanted to move from his Midtown apartment, but the rent had spiked considerably over the past half year and commuting from his new, much more affordable place in Sunnyside to work ended up being more of a hassle than anything. He’s glad he was able to find a school close enough to make the move worth it, and honestly, Baekhyun likes being out of Manhattan. He’s never been too fond of large crowds or cities anyway.

Everything seems a little calmer here, but high school is still as rowdy and exciting as anywhere. The kids are loud and the halls are packed and Baekhyun loves the atmosphere.

“I love it here,” Baekhyun declares during his lunch break, stretching arms over his head and his legs out under the small table in the teacher’s lounge. He heaves a big sigh and drops his arms, nearly smacks Yixing, the music teacher in the face. “Sorry,” he laughs, but Yixing just gives him a sort of amused look and pats his knee.

“I bet you do,” he says, “I hear way too much about how you’ve made all the kids fall in love with you and it’s barely been a month.”

“I wouldn’t say _all_ of them,” Baekhyun says, trying to be humble even as he smirks at Yixing. He unwraps his sandwich that he’d made haphazardly this morning and says around a mouthful, “It’s not my fault I’m so cute.”

Yixing shakes his head, his smile drawing out his dimple and Baekhyun instinctively reaches out to poke it. Yixing was the first person he met, even before the principal, when Baekhyun had nearly run him over rushing to make it to his meeting with the principal in time. He’d just laughed at Baekhyun and happily introduced himself and Yixing likes how laid-back and unassuming Yixing is. In the short time they’ve known each other, Baekhyun has dragged Yixing out for meals, nearly broke his guitar (by accident!!) and made Yixing incredibly fond of him. Baekhyun is just glad he has a friend.

“Well, I’m glad you like it here,” Yixing says after a few moments of silence. “You’ve definitely made things more...interesting.”

“Just doing my job,” Baekhyun says, grinning, though the effect is probably ruined because there’s like mayo or something stuck to his chin. He gets up to go find a napkin when the door to the lounge opens and sex-on-legs walks in. Or, well, the physics teacher, Chanyeol, looking just as good as always with dark rimmed glasses perched on his nose and a white lab coat that he definitely doesn’t need (what does he think this place is, the Kennedy Space Center?), but Baekhyun doesn’t complain because it’s a good look. “Oh, uh, hey, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun says quickly, before anyone else can greet him, and Chanyeol looks up from his phone, eyes widening at Baekhyun before he smiles.

“Hey,” he says easily, “do you know you have something right...there?” He points at Baekhyun’s face and Baekhyun mentally groans, having forgotten the whole reason he was out of his seat in the first place.

“Shit, I mean, uh, thanks,” he says, hastily flitting away to find a godforsaken napkin. Chanyeol’s laughter rings in his ears and Baekhyun watches as he slumps into the empty seat next to Yixing, his ridiculously long legs sliding out under the table.

One of the best perks about Baekhyun’s new job is definitely this. Chanyeol is just Baekhyun’s type; tall and good-looking, with or without the glasses, large hands that Baekhyun wouldn’t really mind anywhere on his body and infallibly kind. He’s friends with everybody, the students love him, which is incredible in Baekhyun’s opinion because physics should be one of those classes everyone hates, and did Baekhyun mention that he’s _tall_? His ears a little big but Baekhyun realized a week in that they’re actually kind of endearing. Baekhyun has always been a fan of Dumbo, anyway.

So maybe Baekhyun has a bit of a crush. It’s hard not to when Chanyeol is...well, Chanyeol, and the rest of the staff is not up to Baekhyun’s very specific standards. Yixing wouldn’t be a bad choice if it weren’t for the fact that he’s married, and Junmyeon, the principal, is kind of hot but also a huge dork and Baekhyun doesn’t need the complications of that relationship in his life right now. Chanyeol, however, is single, and Baekhyun is in the midst of plotting out his detailed plan of How to Get Into Chanyeol Park’s Pants. (It’s a working title.)

Baekhyun finishes his lunch that day with much more dignity than when Chanyeol first walked in. He tries to engage him in conversation, but Chanyeol spends most of his break reading a really thick, boring looking science book, and Yixing quietly laughs at Baekhyun on the side. It’s okay, though, Baekhyun tells himself as he heads back to his classroom. He’s nothing if not persistent.

 

 

~

 

 

“A little _too_ persistent, if you ask me,” Jongdae tells him over the phone the next evening when Baekhyun finally gets around to calling him and telling him everything. “I’ve been telling you that for years.”

He has been, ever since they met at NYU as over-excited freshmen, and Jongdae’s never held back just what he thinks of Baekhyun’s, well, entire existence. Baekhyun’s always liked that about him, though, even if it’s not necessarily anything he wants to hear. “But he’s _so hot_ ,” Baekhyun says, for about the fiftieth time that night and Jongdae laughs in his ear.

“I know, you’ve said,” he says and Baekhyun is pretty sure he’s rolling his eyes. Baekhyun won’t admit it, but he misses Jongdae, who works back at the school Baekhyun had left. It’d definitely been a blast to work with one of his best friends, and he’s already caught himself heading over to the chemistry labs to talk to Jongdae, only to remember quite painfully that he won’t be there. “Just ease up a little, will you? He probably thinks you’re a nutjob, being new to the school and all.”

Baekhyun huffs. “You’re the nutjob,” he says and hangs up when Jongdae cackles at him.

He doesn’t really take Jongdae’s suggestion to heart until the next day, when the only reaction he gets from Chanyeol is a small smile to his overly enthusiastic greeting in the hall. He definitely won’t admit that maybe Jongdae is right, but Baekhyun figures he could probably back off just a little. Get to know the man behind the lab coat and all.

 

 

~

 

 

What he doesn’t expect is Chanyeol to make the first move. He’s waiting by Baekhyun’s door right when Baekhyun dismisses his class for their lunch break. A few of the kids shout out greetings to Chanyeol, too, and he smiles affectionately down at a few, gives one of the kids a high five when he runs out.

“Hey,” Baekhyun says, trying to sound as casual as possible. “To what do I owe this honor?”

Chanyeol leans against the doorframe, filling it up nicely with his long body, and holds up a plastic bag. “I grabbed some Chinese food, thought you might want to share?” he says and Baekhyun grins widely at him, tapping the stack of papers in his hands against his desk before setting them aside to make space.

“A man after my own heart,” he says and Chanyeol’s laugh fills up the empty classroom. Baekhyun drags the extra chair by his desk around so Chanyeol can sit across from him and Chanyeol pulls out all the boxes from the bag, spreading them out across Baekhyun’s rather cluttered desk. “Sorry for the mess,” he says, but Chanyeol waves him off.

Baekhyun grins, plopping back down in his chair and grabbing a pair of utensils and one of the boxes of rice, scoops some into his mouth. “Thanks for this,” he says around his mouthful.

“You can get lunch sometime next week,” Chanyeol returns easily, and Baekhyun narrows his eyes at him.

“I see, that’s how you get everyone wrapped around your finger, huh?” Baekhyun says. “I’d wondered.”

“Nah, that’s just because of my incredible charms,” Chanyeol says, and he winks at Baekhyun dramatically, pulling a laugh from him. “You haven’t been here long enough yet. But you’ll see. I’ll have you under my spell, too.”

Baekhyun bites his tongue to keep from saying something potentially embarrassing like _I might already be_ , and instead gives Chanyeol a slow once over. “Hmm,” he muses, “we’ll see about that.”

 

 

~

 

 

The next morning Baekhyun walks into his classroom to find a message scrawled across his chalkboard, that he doesn’t remember being up there when he left last night.

_Are you vaporizing from a solid state? Because you’re sublime._

“What the fuck,” he mumbles to himself, and casts a look around the classroom as if it’ll tell him who left this weird message. The rooms are open for most after school programs, so maybe some of the kids were in here yesterday?

He takes a picture of the board on his phone, figuring maybe knows what the hell it means, before tossing his things onto his desk and grabbing the eraser to wipe it off. He barely removes the first letter before a familiar, low voice shout, “Good morning!” from the door. Baekhyun drop the dirty eraser and it leaves white, powdery chalk down the front of his black jeans.

“Jesus,” he hisses, glaring at Chanyeol, “don’t _do_ that.”

“Sorry,” Chanyeol says, but he doesn’t look that apologetic at all, grinning as he wanders into Baekhyun’s room, stopping on the other side of Baekhyun’s desk. “What is that?”

“No idea,” Baekhyun says, rubbing futilely at his pants to remove as much of the chalk-dust as possible. It’s probably a lost cause, his pants taking on a weird gray tone. “It was just here when I arrived. Probably one of the kids put it up after school or something.”

“Hmm,” Chanyeol says, standing back to appraise it, arms crossed over his chest. “I don’t know about any high school kid who’d use nerdy pick-up lines, do you?”

“A pick-up line?”

“Yeah, it’s telling you you’re _sublime_ ,” Chanyeol says, waggling his eyebrows.

Baekhyun snorts and wipes away the last of the message. “Well, _I_ already knew that, but I’m glad to see someone else at the school feels the same.”

“Seems like maybe someone has a secret admirer,” Chanyeol singsongs, dropping his arms so he can instead wiggle his fingers at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun just laughs, incredulous, turning away from the board and pulling out his assignments and plans for the day. “I haven't been here long enough for that, don't you think?”

Chanyeol shrugs. “Well, you never know,” he says, grinning at Baekhyun before he takes his leave, shouting back at him that they should meet up later for lunch, and Baekhyun shakes his head, still disbelieving. Sure, he’s a total catch and anyone (legal) at this school would be so lucky to have him. But he's not so sure about random pick-up lines that could have been written by and for anyone.

Except the next day, Baekhyun finds another message left for him halfway through the day. A green post-it under the stapler on his desk, familiar writing that says, _I can’t begin to calculate your luminosity because of how hot you are_.

He almost bursts out laughing in the middle of class, quickly covering his mouth to stifle any sound and he peels the note off to look at it more closely. Well, there’s definitely no mistake now that these messages are meant for him.

He reads the note a few more times before shaking his head and sticking it into the inside cover of a notebook. It’s hard to not keep thinking about it, though, his mind wandering back to it during every break.

"What should I do about it?" Baekhyun asks Yixing during lunch later that day. "What does it even _mean_?"

Yixing laughs, handing the notebook back. "Beats me. I teach music, not science. Is that science? I have no idea."

"Useless," Baekhyun whines, flopping across the table in exaggeration, arms stretching out toward yixing. He plucks one of the grapes from a small round tupperware container and pops it into his mouth, pouting. Baekhyun practically scarfed down his lunch but he's still hungry. All this thinking takes too much energy.

"Well, clearly this means you should figure out who it is, right?" Yixing says after a moment, tilting his head to the side as he looks across the table at him. He smiles and graciously slides the container of grapes toward Baekhyun.

Baekhyun eyes him, before picking out another. “It's not you, is it? Because I like you, Yixing, but not like that.”

Yixing rolls his eyes, but his smile is indulgent. "Eat, Baekhyun," he says, "and stop moping."

"I'm not moping," Baekhyun grumbles, slowly pulling himself back upright. He has a secret admirer! That’s definitely nothing to mope about.

And yet, he continues to pout as he glances over at the couch in the lounge, where Chanyeol is deep in conversation with Seohyun, who teaches psychology at the school. He’s waving his arms around as he talks, his deep voice like music to Baekhyun's ears, and he looks just as good as always.

Baekhyun sighs, angrily chewing on another grape. He thinks he'd be less mopey if his admirer was less secretive and more… _Chanyeol_.

 

 

~

 

 

As the week goes on, Baekhyun finds himself with one new message everyday. They’re all weird, nerdy pick-up lines like _Are you exerting a gravitational pull, because I’m falling for you_ , and _I feel like an accretion disk, pulled in by you_ , and even, _You are as stunning and full of possibility as a protoplanetary disc_.

Baekhyun has no fucking clue what a protoplanetary disc _is_ , but he’s still strangely flattered anyway.

The notes are all left in weird places, too, like a game. Never the same spot once. The third one was tucked into his lunch bag, the fifth in the pocket of his blazer (he didn’t even find that one until he got home), and the eighth one written out on a piece of notebook paper that was stuck under the windshield wipers of his car. Baekhyun has to admit that whoever this is, they’re pretty good. And they’re making everyday a little more interesting for Baekhyun, who loves not only being the center of attention (by now, most of the teachers know what’s going on), but also loves the entertainment.

Yixing finds the whole thing amusing, snickering at Baekhyun when he complains about it, like it’s all very funny, while Chanyeol seems to think it’s all incredibly unfair.

“I’ve been at this school for years and no one’s ever done something like that for me, and we all know I’m the best looking teacher here,” he says at the end of the ninth day, when Baekhyun stops by his classroom to meet him to get coffee. Chanyeol had asked him that morning, and Baekhyun had eagerly said yes, though he hopes that Chanyeol didn’t realize just how eager he was.

“Hah,” Baekhyun says, walking around the lab desks and poking at some of the fancy looking jars and bottles on one in the front. He hasn’t been in here before, really, but Chanyeol looks right at home, still dressed in his lab coat and glasses. His hair is pushed up off his face today, styled nicely, and he looks hotter than normal. Baekhyun also hopes he makes it through coffee without trying to jump him. “Clearly you’ve been dethroned.”

Chanyeol gives Baekhyun a very slow, very deliberate once-over that leaves Baekhyun’s skin tingling. He almost knocks a stack of papers on the table when he hastily turns away, walking over to the walls to stare at the posters Chanyeol’s put up. “Well, I guess if I had to lose my crown to anyone, you’d be a pretty viable option,” Chanyeol says after a moment, and when Baekhyun glances back at him, he’s smirking.

“Of course I am,” Baekhyun manages to say, and he strikes a pose that makes Chanyeol laugh. The tight coil in the pit of his stomach loosens and he shoves his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and adds, “So, ready to go?”

As if remembering they have plans, Chanyeol nods quickly, pushes his glasses up his nose. “Just let me put these things away,” he says and Baekhyun waves at him easily, continues to wander around the room instead.

It’s the first time Baekhyun’s been with Chanyeol outside of the school. He’s met with Yixing a few times, but never Chanyeol, and he’s a little nervous at first, which is ridiculous, really, because Baekhyun doesn’t _do_ nervous. However, Chanyeol is just as loud and lively and easy to talk to as he is inside the high school walls, and they end up at a nice coffee shop in town that Baekhyun’s never been to, sipping at hot beverages and talking about anything and everything.

“I’ve been here for nearly three months now, but I still haven’t had a chance to really get to know the area,” Baekhyun says, glancing around the shop. “This place is nice, I’m definitely gonna have to come back.”

“If you want,” Chanyeol says, “I could give you a little tour. Show you the best spots in town, you know?”

“My own free tour guide,” Baekhyun says, grinning. “I didn’t know I was getting that with my coffee today.”

“Hey, who said anything about being free?” Chanyeol raises his brows as he lifts his mug up to his lips and takes another sip. “I require payment in millikan apparatuses and anemometer sensors.”

“Free it is then,” Baekhyun says decisively, grin widening when Chanyeol laughs. He quite likes Chanyeol’s boisterous laughter, the way his face gets cutely scrunched up, and he makes a mental note to get him to laugh more often. That should possibly be a red flag, that Baekhyun’s in too deep, but he waves it off and pulls the slice of tiramisu toward himself.

He cuts up a little piece and devours it happily, licking a bit of the cream off his lips, and when he glances back at Chanyeol, he doesn’t miss the way Chanyeol’s eyes are fixated on his mouth. Baekhyun tilts his head slightly, sucks a little around his fork, and is pleased to see Chanyeol’s throat bob as he swallows and quickly looks away.

Interesting, he thinks, and helps himself to another piece.

He tries not to push it too much, but the realization that maybe Chanyeol finds him attractive is definitely good news. Instead, he just makes sure to draw a little extra attention to his lips, tapping his fingertips against them when he’s thinking about an answer to one of Chanyeol’s many questions ( _What’s your favorite movie? Did you supervise any programs back at your old school? Have you tripped down any of the staircases yet? I swear they move or something_. (No, Chanyeol, I’m not a clumsy oaf like you.)) Chanyeol only gets distracted once, but it’s enough to have Baekhyun’s gut burning with want. Maybe he has a shot at this after all.

Chanyeol drives him back to the high school after spending nearly another hour or so at the coffee shop so Baekhyun can pick up his own car. He sings loudly to a Taylor Swift song that pops up on the radio and Baekhyun laughs but joins in just as loudly on the chorus and Chanyeol beams at him so brightly it makes Baekhyun’s chest a little too warm.

“This was fun,” Chanyeol says, getting out of his car to watch Baekhyun walk around to the driver’s side of his own, opening the door. “Next time I should show you the Sunnyside arch, it’s really pretty at night.”

“Next time?” Baekhyun repeats, smirking, and Chanyeol looks only momentarily embarrassed before he nods, firm.

“Next time,” he says, and then bids Baekhyun goodbye. Baekhyun goes home that night and doesn’t get much grading done, not when his mind is full of Chanyeol’s smooth voice and blinding smile.

 

 

~

 

 

Baekhyun’s still high off of his successful outing with Chanyeol that he forgets all about his weird admirer messages until the next morning. There’s a sheet of paper taped to his door when he arrives that says _There should be a right-hand-rule that describes the way I’ll wrap myself around you and make a current run through you_. It makes Baekhyun laugh as he peels it off carefully because it seems like his admirer is getting a little bolder. Again, he’s curious, but he isn’t really sure what to do about any of this.

Besides, he’s not too concerned about a secret admirer who won’t give him any real clues to an identity when he has Chanyeol, who makes good on his offer to be Baekhyun’s tour guide. In the next few days, they spend more time together than Baekhyun would’ve ever hoped to, and even if some of the places Chanyeol takes him to are super nerdy, he has a lot of fun. _Chanyeol_ is a lot of fun, and Baekhyun has always enjoyed guys who can make him laugh.

Friday night Chanyeol insists they go see the Sunnyside art-deco arch, which he says is really only worth seeing at night when it lights up. Baekhyun isn’t so sure what’s so important about an _arch_ , especially since he’s passed by it during the day already, but really any time with Chanyeol is good time spent, so Baekhyun tells him to pick him up at seven and they part ways after school lets out.

He has to remind himself it’s not a date, even if it feels a little like it. They get along really well and it’s obvious Chanyeol likes him, but he hasn’t slipped like the way he did that first day, when Baekhyun had caught him staring at his mouth. Which is unfortunate, but Baekhyun isn’t one to give up. He heads home with the intention of a nice, warm shower, and to dress up in his best jeans that makes his ass look great and he’s definitely going to make Chanyeol notice.

He doesn’t expect to find one of the silly admirer messages in his mailbox, just a folded slip of paper sticking out of the slit, with the words, _Babe, if you’re looking for thrusts with force, look no further, because I’ve got mass and acceleration!_

“Oh my god,” Baekhyun says, torn between laughing at the awful line and tossing the message out entirely because it’s definitely a little weird that his admirer came all the way here to stick it into his mailbox, right?

Shuddering at the thought, Baekhyun folds up the paper and sticks it into his pocket to deal with later, grabbing the rest of his mail and darting up to his apartment. He only has a few hours before Chanyeol comes by and who knows how the night is going to go; maybe he can invite him over afterward for a drink or something. It is a Friday night, so there’s nothing to get in the way. Baekhyun has learned that Chanyeol is really serious when it comes to staying out too late on school nights, declining a few of Baekhyun’s invitations to head into Manhattan for an evening. But today...maybe.

Baekhyun cleans his apartment as best he can, then showers quickly and gets ready. He’s finishing up the last touches of eyeliner when the buzzer rings out in his apartment and he nearly falls on his ass sliding down the hall in his socks to answer it. “Hey, I’m almost done, you can come up if you want, door’s open.”

“You shouldn’t leave your door unlocked,” he hears Chanyeol say before Baekhyun laughs and buzzes him through.

Baekhyun rushes back into the bathroom to check his appearance again and a few seconds later there’s a tentative knock on the door before it squeaks open. “Come in, Chanyeol, it’s okay!”

He hears Chanyeol pad inside, the door shutting behind him, and Baekhyun darts into his room to grab his leather coat, wallet and keys. “Hey,” he says, strolling out down the hallway and shaking his head amusedly because Chanyeol is standing awkwardly by the door, looking around with large eyes. When he turns to Baekhyun, his gaze sharpens and there’s a quick glance down before he settles his eyes on his face. Baekhyun smirks.

“Hi,” Chanyeol says, then seems to shake out of his thoughts, grinning. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, let’s do this,” Baekhyun says, waving him out the door.

They walk; the arch isn’t far and the weather has been really warm, even in the evenings, and it’s nice to just chat with Chanyeol as they stroll easily down the streets. Baekhyun’s party still concerned about the newest note he’d gotten, but Chanyeol makes it easy to push that aside, laughing loudly and even once tossing his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder to pull him close as they turn the corner.

“See?” Chanyeol says, gesturing toward the large Sunnyside arch, lit up for the evening in bright orange colors. “It’s pretty cool at night, isn’t it?”

“I think you’re the only person who feels that way,” Baekhyun says, laughing. “Most people I’ve talked to said the renovations were a waste.”

“Most people don’t have an appreciation for the _history_ ,” Chanyeol sniffs, pulling Baekhyun along, his arm still around his shoulder. Baekhyun thinks it fits quite nicely there, like the difference in their heights was just meant for this. “That arch was built in _1983_ , you know? It’s more than just a--”

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun cuts it, shaking his head, amused, “it’s just a light up arch.” He snakes his arm around Chanyeol’s waist and pats the small of his back. “Why don’t you show me some place good to eat instead?”

Chanyeol pouts down at him for a moment and Baekhyun does his best to focus on his eyes and not his full lips because he already has enough thoughts about wanting to make out with Chanyeol and he really doesn’t need to suddenly attempt it in the middle of the street. Eventually Chanyeol lets out a soft laugh and says, “All right, all right. Have you been to Salt & Fat yet?”

Dinner is really good, and Baekhyun might be exaggerating his moans of pleasure at how delicious everything tastes only a _little_ bit, just to see the way Chanyeol chokes on his beer and looks away. It’s cute, and Baekhyun really enjoys teasing people so the more he spends time with Chanyeol, the more he likes him, likes being around him.

And if the way Chanyeol smiles at him, eyes soft and fond, and his feet bump casually against Baekhyun’s under the table is any indication, Baekhyun thinks that maybe Chanyeol feels the same.

Chanyeol is comfortable and easy to talk to, Baekhyun was hoping he wouldn’t have to resort to liquid courage to open up because he’s a notorious lush, and he’s glad that he doesn’t have to. Chanyeol seems to have an opinion on everything, from the music playing in the restaurant (“ _I_ could play guitar better than that,” he announces at one point, and Baekhyun tries not to make too many connections between his guitarist finger dexterity to, well, other places he could use his fingers, shifting uncomfortably in his seat), to other places he could take Baekhyun to visit next week.

“The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria is super cool,” he says, “they have all these fascinating exhibits and they also screen some awesome films there.”

“You really like weird, nerdy things don’t you?” Baekhyun says lightly, lips quirking in amusement. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s kind of cute.” That comes out without his brain’s approval, really, but he doesn’t take it back, not when Chanyeol’s eyes go a little wide and his ears turn red.

“Well,” Chanyeol says, clearing his throat and looking anywhere but at Baekhyun for a few moments. “What sort of things are you interested in?”

_You_ , Baekhyun wants to say, but decides for more self-preservation at this moment, while they’re still in the middle of a fancy-pants restaurant, and answers, “That’s a loaded question. Right now, I’m interested in dessert.”

Chanyeol blinks at him, then laughs, hiding his mouth behind one of his nice hands, and he nods a few times. “Sure,” he says, “whatever you want.”

The way he looks back at Baekhyun as he says it holds so much promise and Baekhyun swallows, wondering.

“Why don’t we get dessert to go?” Baekhyun blurts out before he can think everything through. Chanyeol looks surprised, but then curious, so he plows on quickly, not giving him a chance to deny, “We can go back to my place; you asked what I was interested in, and I have a pretty ridiculous collection of amazing b-movies, if you want to watch one?”

For a second Chanyeol is silent and Baekhyun bites his lower lip, hating how he’s so anxious. He really must be in too deep, if Chanyeol makes him feel this way, especially when he nearly sags in relief as Chanyeol breaks out into a grin and says, pointing a finger at him, “Only if you have The Body Snatcher.”

Fuck, he’s literally Baekhyun’s soulmate. “What kind of b-movie connoisseur would I be if I didn’t?” he exclaims, and then waves down their waiter to order dessert to go.

Baekhyun’s really glad he had the foresight to clean his apartment earlier, making it easy to welcome Chanyeol in without worrying he left his underwear out on the couch or something again. “Want something to drink?” he calls out, tossing his coat onto the kitchen table and pulling a beer from the fridge for himself.

“Just some water is fine,” Chanyeol says, and Baekhyun plucks a clean glass from the rack by the sink and fills it up. He grabs some spoons and small plates for their desserts, too, when Chanyeol says, “Hey, what’s this?”

Walking back into the living room, Baekhyun finds Chanyeol staring down at the note he’d gotten that day, which he’d just left lying out on the coffee table like an idiot. “Oh, another one of those weird messages,” he says, setting the drinks and utensils down. He heads for the shelf by the television where he’d haphazardly stacked all his DVDs after he’d moved and not really organized, and it takes a few minutes to locate The Body Snatcher among everything else. “I got it today. They left it in my mailbox.” He shudders again, remembering how strange that is. “Isn’t that kind of creepy?”

“Creepy?” Chanyeol says, eyeing the message before he looks up at Baekhyun.

“Yeah, I mean, they didn’t mail it,” Baekhyun says, successfully thrusting the DVD up into the air as Chanyeol grins. “Like, they came over here to drop it off themselves. It’s creepy.”

“Seems like they’re just really trying to get your attention,” Chanyeol says, folding the paper back up and setting it aside.

“Well, they have,” Baekhyun says, popping the DVD into the player before he grabs the remote and flops down onto the couch next to Chanyeol. Not too close to be obvious, but close enough that their knees bump occasionally and Baekhyun can feel the heat from Chanyeol’s arm. Play it cool, Byun Baekhyun, he reminds himself firmly as he starts the movie. “But now I’m thinking that I don’t really want it, you know?”

Chanyeol makes a vague sound and says nothing more on the subject, which suits Baekhyun just fine. He slides the note off the table with his foot and then reaches for their dessert, smiling up at Chanyeol who returns it after a moment, looking a little lost in thought. Baekhyun accidentally-on-purpose nudges Chanyeol’s knee with his own as he settles back into the couch, turning to the television and wonders if maybe he can convince Chanyeol to make this b-movie viewing a weekly thing.

 

 

~

 

 

Baekhyun doesn’t notice until Wednesday the next week when Yixing asks, “Have you gotten anymore notes from your secret admirer? You haven’t come barging in here demanding answers in a few days.”

Baekhyun stares at him for a long moment, then thinks back over earlier in the week and realizes that Yixing is right. While he would usually find a note everyday, he hasn’t received one since Friday and he feels a little stupid for not noticing. “I think they stopped,” he says slowly as he chews leftover noodles. “I haven’t gotten any.” He pouts and stabs his fork into his tupperware. “I haven’t gotten any! What the fuck? They can’t just stop like that.”

“I’m pretty sure they can,” Yixing says placatingly, not looking up from his phone where he’s probably texting sappy things to his wife. “Besides, I thought you weren’t interested in it anymore, now that everything’s been going so well with Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun slowly nods, because, yes, that’s true. “But how can they just stop without telling me who they are?” he whines. “Like, shouldn’t there be a final clue? A request to meet in person? _Something_?”

“Maybe they’re just changing tactics,” Yixing suggests and Baekhyun sighs, frowning down at his food.

They don’t discuss it more than that, not when there isn’t much else to say. Baekhyun does go back to his classroom after lunch to check around for any hidden notes, but there really isn’t anything. It’s a little disappointing, because he was curious, and because, well, Baekhyun _did_ like the attention.

“Whoever it is probably realized you were an idiot and gave up,” Jongdae says when Baekhyun meets him that night in Midtown for dinner.

“Don’t be mean, I’m really sad. See? Sad,” Baekhyun says, pouting for effect, but he’s known Jongdae for too long for it to do anything except get him a slap on the back of the head.

“You brought these messages to show me but you probably haven’t even sat down and looked at them properly yourself, have you?” Jongdae says, pushing the little post-its and papers back toward Baekhyun who picks one up and laughs at the dumb line again. “They’re literally _all_ physics pick-up lines. All of them.”

“So?”

“ _So_ ,” Jongdae says, like he’s speaking to a first grader, which makes Baekhyun glare at him and contemplate tossing his drink in his face. “Isn’t that guy, the one you’re in love with, the _physics teacher_?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m in _love_ with him--Wait.” Baekhyun straightens up in his seat, dropping the note in his hand to stare at Jongdae with wide eyes. “You mean _Chanyeol_ has been writing these?”

“Well, who the fuck else could it be? They’re all nerdy physics references, don’t you know anything?”

“I left all that useless knowledge back in high school where it belongs! I teach literature, remember?”

Jongdae shakes his head, reaching for his drink and taking a long sip. “How could you not have realized that it was him though?” he says after a moment while Baekhyun goes through all of the stupid messages, his mind reeling. “You talk about him all the time and you forgot what he teaches?”

“Hey, I was too preoccupied with how hot he is that I didn’t really realize he thought _I_ was hot. I mean, he should, of course, since I have the best ass in NYC, but like--how was I supposed to _know_?”

Jongdae sighs, looking a little like he regrets bringing the whole thing up. Baekhyun almost wishes the same, too, because he’s not sure how to consolidate the image he’d conjured up of his secret admirer with Chanyeol in his head. They’d been completely separate entities and now they’re possibly the same? He really is an idiot for never realizing. Yixing had even said it was science-related, and now Chanyeol’s subdued behavior during the movie that past Friday makes so much sense. Baekhyun had wondered why he’d been so quiet, but he remembers now how he’d said his admirer leaving Baekhyun messages at home was kind of creepy and well. Right after that, the messages had stopped, hadn’t they?

“Fuck,” he says, dropping his head onto the table with a thunk. It hurts, but Baekhyun probably deserves it for being so stupid. “What do I do?”

“What do you mean?” Jongdae says, kicking lightly at Baekhyun under the table. “They’re the _same guy_ , shouldn’t you be happy about that?”

Baekhyun lifts his head just enough to look up at Jongdae. “I am, I guess, but--”

“No, stop,” Jongdae says, holding up a hand. “Whatever stupid thing you’re thinking, just stop.” He narrows his eyes at Baekhyun. “You’ve been going on and on about how great this guy is, and now you know he’s been vying for your attention, admittedly a little childishly, for the past few _weeks_ , so don’t get all freaked out about it now.” He throws a french fry at Baekhyun’s face and grins as Baekhyun splutters. “Give back what you got.”

Baekhyun pops the fry into his mouth, ignoring Jongdae’s grimace, and considers. It’s still hard to wrap around the possibility that it’s been Chanyeol this whole time, leaving him stupid messages, asking about them innocently like he was genuinely curious, and all the while spending time with Baekhyun outside of work, being kind and funny and everything Baekhyun could ever want in a guy. It’s almost too good to be true, that they’re the same person, and yet it all makes sense. Besides, hadn’t Chanyeol himself said that it was unlikely any student would attempt at flirting with pick-up lines? A physics teacher, on the other hand, might just be that ridiculous.

He grins back at Jongdae after a few minutes, reaching across the table to steal a few more fries and easily dodging Jongdae trying to smack his hand away. “I have a great idea,” he says, shoving the fries into his mouth. “Know any good pick-up lines?”

 

 

~

 

 

Baekhyun is quite proud of his plan. If Chanyeol is the one who wrote all those messages for him, then this should definitely get his attention right back.

He gets to the school earlier than usual to ensure he’s there before Chanyeol, and tapes a bunch of pages of ridiculous literary-related pick-up lines he’d found off the internet. Jongdae had been pretty useless in that department, but he’d texted Jongin, the ninth and tenth grade English teacher back at Baekhyun’s old school, to ask for his suggestions. Jongin was able to point Baekhyun to the right places, and Baekhyun spent the night writing out the most ridiculous lines of the bunch, the ones that he thought Chanyeol would appreciate the most.

_You’re the Lord of my Flies, and you can unzip them anytime_ , is the one Baekhyun sticks up onto Chanyeol’s door, the first thing he’ll see, before he retreats back to his own room, grinning, and waiting.

However, Chanyeol doesn’t come find him that morning at all and the first bell rings before Baekhyun has the chance to make a quick run down to his room to see if he’s there. He’s more disappointed than he wants to admit, his mind distracted by how his amazing plan didn’t seem to work out quite as amazingly as he’d hoped. Still, Baekhyun’s sure Chanyeol will come to him eventually. How could he not, when Baekhyun pretty much covered his entire blackboard with pick-up lines?

It isn’t until lunch break that Chanyeol walks in, just minutes after Baekhyun had dismissed his class and seconds before Baekhyun was about to leave for the teacher’s lounge. Chanyeol rushes in, arms full of Baekhyun’s papers, and slams the door shut behind him.

“Did you do this?” he asks, eyes wide, holding the papers out.

Baekhyun laughs, “What do you think?”

“I--” Chanyeol starts, and he looks adorably lost, like he never expected Baekhyun to do this. “I think you figured me out.”

“It took me awhile,” Baekhyun admits, walking up to him and pulling the papers out of his arms. He dumps the papers back on his desk, and Chanyeol follows him over, stepping up close and backing Baekhyun up against it. He looks even taller that way and Baekhyun licks his lips. There’s no mistaking how Chanyeol stares this time. “Sorry I didn’t realize earlier,” he continues, “or I would have--”

“What?” Chanyeol asks, voice low, and his hands settle lightly on Baekhyun’s hips.

“Or I would’ve plastered your chalkboard with these much earlier,” Baekhyun laughs, brushes back his hair from his face and looking into Chanyeol’s eyes. Chanyeol looks back, a little uncertain, a lot hopeful, and Baekhyun says, remembering suddenly, “Why did you stop?”

“Well, what you said the other day,” he says after a moment, but shakes his head quickly and tightens his hold on Baekhyun’s waist when he winces guiltily. “No, I mean, I’d realized maybe I was taking this whole thing a little too far. That maybe I was doing a better job anyway, just hanging out with you.”

“You were,” Baekhyun says quickly. “I did always like you more than the anonymous person leaving me messages.” He smiles, reaches up to lightly pull at the tie around Chanyeol’s neck, smoothing it down his chest and giving his hands something to do. “But now that I know that was _also_ you, I don’t know. I’m really glad. It’s a little weird, but I guess I can live with it.”

“Really? So if I said I feel like a Bose-Einstein condensate, because I--”

Baekhyun groans loudly, tries to pull away but Chanyeol doesn’t let him move. “No, stop, I take it back, I can’t handle anymore of those pick-up lines.”

“Hey baby,” Chanyeol continues, like he hadn’t heard Baekhyun speak, and the deep tone to his voice has Baekhyun’s body tingling, “you and I are on the same wavelength; want to stay collimated?”

“Chanyeol--”

“Why don’t we go investigate our harmonic frequencies?”

“Oh my god--wait. That’s actually one I can get behind,” Baekhyun says, waggling his eyebrows exaggeratedly and making Chanyeol laugh, the sound bright in the empty classroom.

“Maybe after school lets out.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” Baekhyun says.

Chanyeol grins, sliding a hand up Baekhyun’s side and then over to his face, thumb brushing very lightly along his chin. “Until then, perhaps we could…”

Baekhyun curls his fingers around Chanyeol’s tie and yanks him down until their mouths meet in an eager kiss. He feels more than hears Chanyeol’s laugh against his lips, and his own lips curve into a grin as he tilts his head up and kisses him better, harder. His mouth is just as soft and nice as it looks and Baekhyun sighs into it, because finally, after hoping all this time, this is actually happening, and it’s better than anything Baekhyun has imagined.

It’s Chanyeol who pulls back first, panting as he rests his forehead against Baekhyun’s. The smile on his face is wide, beautiful, and Baekhyun laughs, happy, incredulous, letting his fingers gently brush through the short hairs at the back of Chanyeol’s neck.

Chanyeol lets out a small, contented sigh and steps back, taking Baekhyun’s hand in his and tugging him toward the door so they can head to lunch, which is probably a good thing because if they stay in here any longer, Baekhyun might let Chanyeol bend him over the table. Before he can suggest going off-campus to get food, Chanyeol squeezes Baekhyun’s hand and says, “Your refractive index must be greater than--”

“Don’t you dare,” Baekhyun cuts him off quickly, but he’s laughing, pushing Chanyeol up against the closed door and shutting him up with another kiss. Yeah, lunch can wait.


End file.
